Japan's Act on the Limitation of Liability for Damages of Specified Telecommunications Service Providers and the Right to Demand Disclosure of Identification Information of the Senders establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries beyond copyright infringements. According to Art. 3 of the Act, no Internet service provider (ISP) may be held liable for failing to delete infringing content. Furthermore, the Act also shields ISPs from the liability for any damage caused by the deletion of content on its network if the ISP reasonably believes that the content infringes the intellectual property rights or privacy of others or if a third party alleges infringement and the content sender does not respond to the ISP's inquiry within seven days.

The Unfair Competition Prevention Law (Law No. 47 of 1993) provides a framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. A ‘trade secret’ is defined in the law as a production method, sales method, or any other technical or operational information useful for business activities that are kept secret and are not publicly known (Art. 2). According to Art. 3 of the law, those businesses or persons whose business interests have been, or are threatened to be, infringed on by misappropriation or illegal disclosure shall have the right to seek an injunction. The Unfair Competition Prevention Act provides civil and criminal remedies in such cases where secret information about the company is stolen or disclosed illegally. To protect information according to the Act, companies need to manage such data as “trade secrets”.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Japan to deliver telecom services to end users.

Ar. 4.1 of the "Act on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, etc." stipulates that the government must at all times hold more than one‑third of the total number of issued shares in the telecommunications company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT).

It is reported that the government holds one-third of the shares in the telecommunications company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), as envisioned in Art. 4.1. of the "Act on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, etc.", which requires the government to retain more than one‑third of the company’s issued shares at all times.

It is reported that Japan mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

Under the Radio Act (Act No. 131 of 1950) (電波法 (昭和二十五年法律第百三十一号), the allocation of the spectrum is at the discretion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC), based on consultation with the Radio Regulatory Council and consideration of plans submitted by the operators. The Act was amended in May 2019 to adopt what is called a "partial auction system," whereby the MIC considers the amount of special fees submitted by the applicant based on their own valuation of the spectrum, although it is not a decisive element. It is reported that the MIC's decision-making is arbitrary and opaque. Moreover, it reported that "several current spectrum allocations create bands unique to Japan (e.g., for self-driving vehicles) that prevent foreign technologies from functioning in Japan". On 30 August 2024, the MIC released a report from an advisory council on the use of a “conditional auction” mechanism for the allocation of underutilised millimetre wave bands or frequency bands that need to be shared with other wireless systems.

Japan has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Japan does not possess a telecommunications authority whose decision‑making processes are institutionally independent of the government. Instead, the telecommunications and internet sectors are overseen by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), rather than by an autonomous regulatory commission.

The Guidelines on Security Management of Information System and Services Handling Medical Information provide that information systems for the handling of medical data must be located in the territory of Japan so that in the event of an emergency, Japanese governmental authorities can enforce their power to collect information or issue administrative orders. Although this is not a mandatory requirement based on a specific law, it is reported that some medical institutions have requested that service providers maintain servers inside Japan to comply with these Guidelines.

It is reported that cloud service providers wishing to offer services to the Japanese government are required to locate their data servers within Japan.

Under Art. 28 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, the transfer of personal data to a third party in a foreign jurisdiction generally requires the explicit consent of the data subject. This requirement does not apply, however, in certain cases. One such case is where the recipient is located in a country or region designated by the Personal Information Protection Commission (PPC) as having a data protection regime that provides a level of protection equivalent to that of Japan, particularly in relation to individual rights and interests. At present, only member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom have received such designation. Another exception applies where the recipient has implemented a data protection framework that meets the standards prescribed by the PPC. Certification under the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) System, held either by the data sender or the recipient, may serve as evidence of such compliance.

Japan has joined agreements with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. These include: the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP, Art. 14.11), the Agreement Between The United States Of America And Japan Concerning Digital Trade (Art. 11), the Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Japan for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership (Art 8.84), and the Agreement between the European Union and Japan for an Economic Partnership (Art. 8.81).

The Act on the Protection of Personal Information provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Japan.

Japan has a copyright regime under the Copyright Act. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 30-50 list the exceptions, which include which include quoting and thereby exploiting a work that has been made public. In such a case, the work must be cited consistent with fair practices and within a scope that is justified for the purpose of news reporting, critique, study, or another place in which the work is quoted; to broadcast or cablecast a work that has been made public, in broadcast or cablecast programming for schools that conforms to the curriculum standards provided for in laws and regulations on school education; among others.